Connor Lemons
Guest
Big Ten basketball tournaments returning to Indianapolis is good news for the conference
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo courtesy of SB Nation Detroit
After two years away, both the men’s and women’s tournaments will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2025.
One year after holding its conference basketball tournaments in a city that was not a drivable distance for 11 of the 14 member institutions, the Big Ten announced on Wednesday afternoon that both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments would return to Indianapolis in March 2025.
The locations of the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments change every year, but Chicago and Indianapolis have historically been the most common locations for the events. The tournaments are typically held at the United Center (home of the Chicago Bulls) in Chicago and Gainbridge Fieldhouse (home of the Indiana Pacers and Fever) when the event is held in Indianapolis.
While not always the case, both the men’s and women’s tournaments were held in the same location last season — Minneapolis — which was not an ideal location for all but three Big Ten institutions. While the Target Center (home of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx) is a fine facility and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area sounds lovely from what I have heard, only Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa are within a six-hour drive of the city.
With cost constraints on full and part-time journalists getting tighter every season, the only team that was able to get their full media contingent to the tournament was the hometown school, Minnesota. And a time when it feels like everyone is either a college basketball fan or a professional basketball fan these days, more media coverage, quotes, photos, and videos means more insight for the fans of the 14 (now 18) programs. A more accessible Big Ten Tournament for everyone equals more support for college basketball and eyes on the game.
On top of that, putting the Big Ten Tournament so out of the way of more than three-fourths of the conference’s schools makes it much harder for fans of the teams to make the trip. A casual, fun trip to take in the Big Ten Tournament and see your alma mater play becomes much less casual — and much more of a hassle — when fans have to book flights to make it happen.
Wednesday’s news that the Big Ten Tournaments are returning to Indianapolis is huge for fans and media alike for nearly all of the conference’s teams. Nine of the “traditional” 14 Big Ten schools are within six hours of Indianapolis — compared to just three when the event was held in Minneapolis.
The addition of Washington, Oregon, UCLA, and USC means there will always be four Big Ten teams that will be forced to fly across the country to the conference tournament, as well as basically every single road game all year long. This shortcoming was considered when the conference opted to add those four schools to the Big Ten for football reasons, knowing that the logistics for every other sport would be difficult and taxing on the athletes.
There will never be a location those four schools can drive to, but the Big Ten also announced Wednesday that the women’s tournament will be held in Las Vegas in 2027, and the men’s tournament will be held there in 2028. This is clearly an effort to move the event closer to the conference’s new West Coast members, although all four new members will still be flying anywhere from one to three hours to get to Las Vegas.
As noted above, the men’s tournament will be held in Indianapolis this season, Chicago next season, and then will return to Indianapolis again in 2027 before it goes to Las Vegas in 2028. The women’s tournament will be held in Indianapolis this season and next, before going to Las Vegas in 2027 and Detroit in 2028.
The Ohio State men’s basketball team’s most recent Big Ten Tournament title was back in 2013 at Chicago’s United Center. The Buckeyes also won the tournament in 2010 and 2011 in Indianapolis, making it a run of three titles in four years from 2010 to 2013.
All five of the Ohio State women’s basketball team’s Big Ten Tournament titles have happened in Indianapolis, with the most recent coming back in 2018, when the Buckeyes beat Maryland 79-69. They also won the event in 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2011.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo courtesy of SB Nation Detroit
After two years away, both the men’s and women’s tournaments will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2025.
One year after holding its conference basketball tournaments in a city that was not a drivable distance for 11 of the 14 member institutions, the Big Ten announced on Wednesday afternoon that both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments would return to Indianapolis in March 2025.
The locations of the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments change every year, but Chicago and Indianapolis have historically been the most common locations for the events. The tournaments are typically held at the United Center (home of the Chicago Bulls) in Chicago and Gainbridge Fieldhouse (home of the Indiana Pacers and Fever) when the event is held in Indianapolis.
While not always the case, both the men’s and women’s tournaments were held in the same location last season — Minneapolis — which was not an ideal location for all but three Big Ten institutions. While the Target Center (home of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx) is a fine facility and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area sounds lovely from what I have heard, only Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa are within a six-hour drive of the city.
With cost constraints on full and part-time journalists getting tighter every season, the only team that was able to get their full media contingent to the tournament was the hometown school, Minnesota. And a time when it feels like everyone is either a college basketball fan or a professional basketball fan these days, more media coverage, quotes, photos, and videos means more insight for the fans of the 14 (now 18) programs. A more accessible Big Ten Tournament for everyone equals more support for college basketball and eyes on the game.
On top of that, putting the Big Ten Tournament so out of the way of more than three-fourths of the conference’s schools makes it much harder for fans of the teams to make the trip. A casual, fun trip to take in the Big Ten Tournament and see your alma mater play becomes much less casual — and much more of a hassle — when fans have to book flights to make it happen.
Wednesday’s news that the Big Ten Tournaments are returning to Indianapolis is huge for fans and media alike for nearly all of the conference’s teams. Nine of the “traditional” 14 Big Ten schools are within six hours of Indianapolis — compared to just three when the event was held in Minneapolis.
The addition of Washington, Oregon, UCLA, and USC means there will always be four Big Ten teams that will be forced to fly across the country to the conference tournament, as well as basically every single road game all year long. This shortcoming was considered when the conference opted to add those four schools to the Big Ten for football reasons, knowing that the logistics for every other sport would be difficult and taxing on the athletes.
There will never be a location those four schools can drive to, but the Big Ten also announced Wednesday that the women’s tournament will be held in Las Vegas in 2027, and the men’s tournament will be held there in 2028. This is clearly an effort to move the event closer to the conference’s new West Coast members, although all four new members will still be flying anywhere from one to three hours to get to Las Vegas.
As noted above, the men’s tournament will be held in Indianapolis this season, Chicago next season, and then will return to Indianapolis again in 2027 before it goes to Las Vegas in 2028. The women’s tournament will be held in Indianapolis this season and next, before going to Las Vegas in 2027 and Detroit in 2028.
The Ohio State men’s basketball team’s most recent Big Ten Tournament title was back in 2013 at Chicago’s United Center. The Buckeyes also won the tournament in 2010 and 2011 in Indianapolis, making it a run of three titles in four years from 2010 to 2013.
All five of the Ohio State women’s basketball team’s Big Ten Tournament titles have happened in Indianapolis, with the most recent coming back in 2018, when the Buckeyes beat Maryland 79-69. They also won the event in 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2011.
Continue reading...